HYDERABAD: The majestically carved darwazas that greeted one to Golconda fort for centuries together seem to have lost the last speck of grandiosity of yore. What welcomes visitors today is a huge pile of nauseating garbage and a heap, whose size is increasing by the hour due to the attitude of the locals, who apparently have lost civic sense.
The authorities and local residents have not only failed to protect the grand structures, whose heritage value remains priceless, but they have actually turned the premises and the surroundings into mucky unpleasant sites that have become health hazards.
The surroundings like Fateh Darwaza, Banjara Darwaza and Moti Darwaza and the street right outside the wall of the main fort have been used as garbage dumping spots for a long time now. It is commonplace to see stray cattle, goats and dogs feeding on the litter and filth even as everyone passing through the area has to cover one’s nose.
Alas, rather than take measures to restore the area’s former glory, one only sees a blame-game with GHMC, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the locals trying to pass the buck.
The main fort and the darwaza are in the protected list of ASI while the cleaning and maintenance is to be undertaken by GHMC.
M.S. Rehman, a shopkeeper near the fort, said that GHMC officials must put an end to the haphazard arrangement of garbage bins and place them in such a way that nearby residents will throw garbage only in those earmarked places.
Local resident Abdul Rasheed said “We know shopkeepers and residents tend to throw garbage in the open. I have personally told them not to do so, but nobody changes their attitude. It becomes worse in the evenings.”
Many people residing in the area said that GHMC workers took to cleaning the area near the fort in different shifts, but they ignore places near the darwazas.
Syeda Begum, who stays near Fateh Darwaza, said that it was only after several complaints that the civic body took to cleaning the spot. Earlier, they would only collect the garbage and leave.
ASI officials told Deccan Chronicle “We are trying our best to maintain the monuments that come under ASI, including beautification and landscaping of structures like the darwazas. However, garbage cleaning involves GHMC authorities and we also need their contribution to maintain these spots. We wish that the locals feel more responsible and stop littering and strewing waste all around.”
GHMC officials remained unavailable for comments.
